Blue Moon Playlist Review Club - Season 2 - Episode 32 - threespires - Could have been a Contender (pg 472)

I'm running out of days, with too many songs still to pick from.

I'll throw out a "phone a friend" for anyone struggling or looking for a heavy rocker...
I realize Neil Young's catalog is no longer on Spotify, but if anyone wanted to look deeper beyond the original artist for a banger classic historical figure of his, that would be "Sweet".

Anyways, onto today's selection, about Native American activist Leonard Peltier who is a member of the American Indian Movement. Peltier, following a controversial trial, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of two FBI agents in a June 1975 shooting on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

He was sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment and has been imprisoned since 1977 (over 46 years). Peltier became eligible for parole in 1993.

Glen Phillips of Toad The Wet Sprocket wrote this song in 1997 following his reading of the 1992 book "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse: The Story of Leonard Peltier and the FBI's War on the American Indian Movement."

As Glen notes, the more he read about the case, the less clear the details became – it was a cacophony of conflicting reports. What was clear to Glen was that the trial was mismanaged, witnesses were intimidated, and that the incident brought the issue of Native American civil rights to the fore. Amnesty International has recognized Leonard as a political prisoner, and his life behind bars has been filled with humanitarian work, activism and art. He has been regarded as a model prisoner.

In his 1999 memoir "Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance", Peltier admitted to participating in the shootout, but said he did not kill the FBI agents. In 2017 as he was leaving office, President Obama had denied Peltier's application for clemency.

"Crazy Life" - Toad the Wet Sprocket
 
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Mancitydoogle said:
Another one for Tricky Dicky
’Ohio’ CSN & Y
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Unfortunately, Spotify isn't hosting anything from Neil Young, including this song.

There are some other versions out there, but I'll leave it up to you to pick.

I just listened to the Jon Batiste, Leon Bridges, and Gary Clark Jr. version, and it's different from the CSN&Y version, but quite good and bluesy in its own way. Some might even like it better, and it certainly works for me.

I'll leave the final selection up to you.
 
Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
Unfortunately, Spotify isn't hosting anything from Neil Young, including this song.

There are some other versions out there, but I'll leave it up to you to pick.

I just listened to the Jon Batiste, Leon Bridges, and Gary Clark Jr. version, and it's different from the CSN&Y version, but quite good and bluesy in its own way. Some might even like it better, and it certainly works for me.

I'll leave the final selection up to you.
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Interesting cover , but I’ll go with the Filmore East version which is on spotufy.
 
John Evans was a Welsh Explorer. In the early 1790s there was an upsurge of interest in Wales in the story of Madog having discovered America, and there were persistent rumours in North America of the existence of a tribe of Welsh Indians, identified with the Mandan. Iolo Morganwg had originally intended to explore the Missouri to discover these Welsh Indians, and Evans was to have gone with him. However, Iolo withdrew from the expedition and Evans embarked for the United States alone, arriving in Baltimore in October 1792. In the spring of 1793 he made his way to St. Louis in Spanish Louisiana, where he was imprisoned for a while on suspicion of being a British spy.

In April 1795 he set off on an expedition with Spanish backing to explore the Missouri and to try to discover a route to the Pacific Ocean from its headwaters. He found the Mandan in 1796, and spent the winter with them before returning to St. Louis in 1797. However, he found no trace of Welsh speakers among them. He had travelled 1,800 miles up the Missouri from its confluence with the Mississippi, and he produced a map showing the course of the river. This map, passed on by Thomas Jefferson, was later used by the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Evans remained in the service of the Spanish authorities, but died in New Orleans in May 1799.
Gruff from Super Furry Animals wrote a concept album and film about him and here is the title track.

Gruff Rhys - American Interior
 
Out on blue 6 said:
John Evans was a Welsh Explorer. In the early 1790s there was an upsurge of interest in Wales in the story of Madog having discovered America, and there were persistent rumours in North America of the existence of a tribe of Welsh Indians, identified with the Mandan. Iolo Morganwg had originally intended to explore the Missouri to discover these Welsh Indians, and Evans was to have gone with him. However, Iolo withdrew from the expedition and Evans embarked for the United States alone, arriving in Baltimore in October 1792. In the spring of 1793 he made his way to St. Louis in Spanish Louisiana, where he was imprisoned for a while on suspicion of being a British spy.

In April 1795 he set off on an expedition with Spanish backing to explore the Missouri and to try to discover a route to the Pacific Ocean from its headwaters. He found the Mandan in 1796, and spent the winter with them before returning to St. Louis in 1797. However, he found no trace of Welsh speakers among them. He had travelled 1,800 miles up the Missouri from its confluence with the Mississippi, and he produced a map showing the course of the river. This map, passed on by Thomas Jefferson, was later used by the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Evans remained in the service of the Spanish authorities, but died in New Orleans in May 1799.
Gruff from Super Furry Animals wrote a concept album and film about him and here is the title track.

Gruff Rhys - American Interior
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JFE?!!! ;)
 
Johnny Cash did an album called Bitter Tears which was a collection of songs about native american history. Cash thought he was part Cheyenne himself but I don't think there was anything to back this up. There's a couple of songs about individuals, the most famous of which is The Ballad of Ira Hayes, about the indigenous american who was one of the six marines who raised the flag at Iwo Jima. It's not a happy tale.

There's a 'revisited' version of the album called Look Again To The Wind recorded by some of the greats of americana. I'm going with the version on that record.

Kris Kristofferson, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings - The Ballad of Ira Hayes

(I nearly went with Steve Earle's version of Custer, as having been a little kid who loved a 'cowboys and indians' film, George Custer was quite possibly the first historical figure where I realised that popular culture and history are two very different things).
 
My final song on a historical politician will be about my birth-year president: Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ)

LBJ had big plans for his presidency being focused on "The Great Society", that was aimed at expanding civil rights, public broadcasting, access to health care, aid to education and the arts, urban and rural development, and public services.

He sought to create better living conditions for low-income Americans by spearheading the war on poverty. As part of these efforts, Johnson signed the Social Security Amendments of 1965, which resulted in the creation of Medicare and Medicaid. Johnson made the Apollo program a national priority; enacted the Higher Education Act of 1965, which established federally insured student loans; and signed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which laid the groundwork for U.S. immigration policy today.

Johnson's stance on the issue of civil rights put him at odds with other white, southern Democrats. His civil rights legacy was shaped by signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

All of those things noted above would have made him one of the most popular presidents of our time, certainly among the most effective, especially those final 3 acts which were major overdue laws needed for equality.

Unfortunately, he also escalated a campaign against communism which ultimately made him a one term president. By 1968, no matter how much good he had accomplished, he was mostly remembered for the full-scale military intervention in Vietnam.

This song covers that last aspect (somewhat humorously, I might add):

“Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation” – Tom Paxton

Have no fear of escalation, I am trying everyone to please
 
threespires said:
Johnny Cash did an album called Bitter Tears which was a collection of songs about native american history. Cash thought he was part Cheyenne himself but I don't think there was anything to back this up.
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That is correct on the backing up part. And when his daughter, Roseanne Cash, was on the "Finding Your Roots" PBS series in the US a few years ago, they found her Global DNA Admixture was:
92.3% European
3.8% Western Asian
3.3% Sub-Saharan African (on both Mother and Father sides)
0.6% Unassigned

If there's Native American in there, it's pretty negligible and these tests are pretty accurate up to the past 500 years.
 
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